WHAT'S UP DOC? New Year's safety

By Dr. Jeff Hersh/Daily News Correspondent

Tuesday

Dec 25, 2018 at 11:50 AM

It’s almost the New Year, and I thought I would dedicate today’s column to quoting some sobering statistics.

More Americans have been killed in alcohol/other substance abuse related car accidents than in all the wars our country has ever fought in.
Over a million people are arrested each year for driving under the influence (DUI).
Alcohol/drug related car crashes wreck over 3 million cars per year, and the total economic cost from these crashes is over 130 billion dollars.
Around 30 percent of all car crash fatalities are alcohol/drug related.
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are consistently among the most dangerous days to be on our nation’s roadways.
Yearlong about one person dies in an alcohol/drug related car accident every 50 minutes, but this triples to one death every 15 minutes over the New Year holiday.
Two out of every 3 Americans will be involved in an alcohol/drug related car accident (as a DUI driver or a victim) in their lifetimes.
The problem is even more pronounced for young drivers. Although people age 16 to 24 make up only 15 percent of drivers, they are involved in 30 percent of all alcohol/drug related car crashes.
Motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of death for children and young adults ages 1 through 30.

Even if the car drivers are sober, alcohol poses a risk for intoxicated pedestrians.

One third of pedestrians over age 16 that are hit and killed by a car are intoxicated.

It is a common misconception that only hard alcohol is to blame for all this. Nothing could be further from the truth. A serving of alcohol, be it a shot of liquor, a glass of wine or a glass of beer, all contain pretty much the same amount of alcohol. Since beer is the most common alcoholic beverage consumed it should not be surprising that it is the alcoholic drink implicated in 80 percent of all alcohol related car accident fatalities.

It is not only daily drinkers that are at risk. Binge drinking is a huge problem. A binge drinker is someone who drank at least 5 or more alcoholic drinks on the same occasion in the last month.

One in five teenagers, aged 12 to 20, who cannot legally drink, are binge drinkers.
Underage binge drinkers are 7 times more likely to abuse other illegal drugs.

Alcohol causes many problems other than car accidents.

At least 45 percent of rapists are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
College students who are binge drinkers are 2 to 3 times more likely than non-binge drinkers to have been raped.
Alcohol is implicated in an amazing 90 percent of date rapes, with the victim, the rapist or both having been drinking.

With the New Year holiday coming up we all need to be aware of these problems. If you are going out for New Year’s be sure you have a safe way home:

Designated drivers should not drink AT ALL.
Friend’s don’t let friends drive drunk. Take the car keys away from anyone who is even slightly tipsy. — We had a great way to do this when I was in college. We had everyone give their car keys to the designated key holder on arrival to the party. This person did not drink at all during the party. When someone was ready to go they asked for their keys back, and the designated key holder either gave them their keys or a sleeping bag. The decision of the key holder was final, so you camped out on the floor in a sleeping bag if that is what you were handed. This technique has created some great slumber parties, and in fact I have seen this work out so well that many of the non-drinkers requested sleeping bags rather than their keys in order to get in on the extended party fun. Be prepared to cater breakfast the next morning to a houseful of grateful friends!

Let’s make this the safest New Year’s holiday ever. I hope the New Year is full of promise and adventure for all my readers, and I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.